25 years after Tiananmen, Democracy Movement Hard to Find

On this 25th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre, the remnants of the pro-democracy movement in China are hard to find.

What began as a peaceful demonstration at Tiananmen Square in Beijing ended in a bloody massacre of students and civilians as army tanks rolled down the Avenue of Eternal Peace to suppress the voices of democracy on June 4, 1989. Among those who lost their lives were high school and university students, teachers and professors, office workers, retirees and people from all walks of life.

No one knows the exact number of deaths. In the aftermath, a government spokesperson understated the figure, saying 300 civilians and soldiers died. Edward Timperlake, late director of technology assessment of the Office of the U.S. Secretary of Defense, put the number between 4,000 and 6,000.

To this day, the Chinese government prohibits discussion of Tiananmen Square, and the iconic photograph “Tankman” remains unrecognizable to most people there, including many of my Chinese students.

The China of today is very different from what it was back then. Many of the student leaders are living in exile, and those who remain are often harassed by an unforgiving communist regime.

Others are still in prison, alongside Liu Xiaobo — the writer, human rights activist and recipient of the 2010 Nobel Peace Prize, who was unable to receive his award because he was behind bars.

On the surface, China has rid itself of its democratic, “counter-revolutionary” idealists. Democracy and freedom are rarely discussed now as the economic reforms of late leader Deng Xiaoping have significantly improved the quality of life for many in urban areas, and materialism preoccupies the next generation.

This does not mean that the once-burning desire for democracy has died.

A few courageous Chinese dissidents still campaign for an open discussion of Tiananmen Square and challenge the Communist Party’s stubborn stance that the movement was a conspiracy to overthrow the government. Their hope is not baseless.

After all, the Communist Party finally labeled as “a mistake” the Cultural Revolution that terrorized China from 1966-76 and cost more than 1 million lives. That acknowledgment came a decade after the fact.

How much longer will the Chinese government continue to deny the facts of Tiananmen Square?

The Chinese citizens idealistic enough not to succumb to the cult of wealth will not be silenced with luxury goods, and students now studying abroad may bring back news of what really happened at Tiananmen Square 25 years ago.

The truth — and the desire for democracy — can be buried only so long.

Winifred C. Chin is a research affiliate at the Asian/Pacific/American Studies Program & Institute at New York University. She is part of the adjunct faculty of the College of Arts & Science and teaches East Asian cultures at NYU’s Liberal Studies Program. She can be reached at pmproj@progressive.org.